The Journal is published by the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Cave Administration of the Czech Republic, the Krkonoše Mts. National Park Administration, the Bohemian Forest Mts. National Park Administration, the Podyjí National Park Administration and the The Bohemian Switzerland National Park Administration. It has been published since 1946.
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Nature Conservation 4/2012 — 7. 11. 2012 — Nature and Landscape Management — Print article in pdf
Hanč Z.: Beetles or People or Complicated Nature Conservation in the Hluboká Alley
Komplikovaná ochrany přírody v Hlubockých alejích
The Hluboká Dike Site of European Importance (pursuant to Act No. 114/1992 Gazette on the Protection of Nature and the Landscape, as amended later, the term for Site of Community Importance, SCI under the European Union’s Habitats Directive) is an at least nationally important refuge for a lot of threatened beetle species inhabiting old oaks bathed in the sun.
The European Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus), Great Capricorn Beetle (Cerambyx cerdo) as well as many other threatened saproxylic beetles occur there. The Great Capricorn Beetle’s population has been monitored and has been increasing in numbers. The site is situated in southern Bohemia in an area frequently used by tourists. Various sport grounds have been built there, e.g. a golf course, an important bikeway or a roller skating route. Both a castle park and a zoological garden, both in the vicinity of the site are visited by thousands of people throughout the year. Every day, thousands of people use the bikeway. Thus, the alley should be safe for people: tree cutting is an issue at the site every year. The alleys with the highest protected beetle species richness are at the same time those most often used by tourists. Decisions on tree cutting are difficult because some provisions of the above act should be simultaneously applied. Moreover, compromises do not always solve the problem. Suitable habitat loss has been a key issue in species protection in the Hluboká Alley. The main drivers of the process include tree cutting, removal or decay of old oaks and natural succession changes related to undesirable vegetation spreading and development which shadow parts of oak tree trunk bathed in the sun or increase stand density within the alley. Other negative factors, i.e. traffic on roads and local ways and trails, vandalism, predation and collectors are rather marginal. Prospects of the site are closely related with human activities. If we aim to ensure a long-term occurrence of specially protected saproxylic beetles at the site, it is necessary to add young trees into the alley each decade, to strengthen oak natural seeding, to cut self-seeding of undesirable trees, to support creating holes in tree trunks and at the same time to maintain the trees viable.